Anton Kazakov made it a double at the EBSA European Championships by emerging victoriously at the flagship tournament on Saturday in Gandia.
The young Ukrainian edged Oliver Sykes 5-4 in a dramatic final at the Palace Hotel to claim a second international amateur crown in as many weeks.
Just a few days ago, Kazakov triumphed at the European Under-21 Championship at the same venue – a win that secured his return to the World Snooker Tour from next season.
With his primary objective safeguarded, the 21 year-old didn’t really have to participate in the main event but of course did so with more major honours on the line.
Riley Powell, who Kazakov overcame in the final of the under-21 competition, was among the players beaten in the initial round-robin phase.
Arsenii Korolev was then comfortably ousted in the first knockout round before Kazakov beat Simon Lichtenberg to reach the last 16.
It was in that round where he was given his first proper test, getting pushed all the way by Peter Lines before outlasting the veteran in a deciding frame.
In the quarter-finals, Kazakov outplayed Vladislav Gradinari and then defeated two-time former European amateur champion Robin Hull in the semis – where he completed victory with a fine 140 total clearance.
The final against Sykes, who had reached the title-deciding fixture with a 4-1 triumph over Umut Dikme, was a close affair that ebbed one way and then the other.
The Englishman led twice in the early exchanges but Kazakov fought back to lead 3-2 with a break of 72.
Sykes took the following two frames to move to within the brink of the title, but Kazakov managed to force the final frame with a break of 60 and duly got his hands on the trophy upon winning the decider.
The good news for Sykes, however, is that with his opponent already promoted to the main tour, he will receive the potentially lucrative World Snooker Tour ticket instead.
That means both Kazakov and Sykes will compete on the World Snooker Tour for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 campaigns.
The latter will be making his debut as a professional player while Kazakov, who also won the WSF Junior Championship in 2022, will hope to improve on his previous stint from 2022 to 2024.
His confidence will certainly be sky high after ending his trip to Spain with a rare brace of prestigious amateur trophies.
2026 European Amateur Championship
Selected Results
Last 16
Zachary Richardson 4-2 William Bjerregaard Jakobsen
Robin Hull 4-0 Lukas Kleckers
Anton Kazakov 4-3 Peter Lines
Vladislav Gradinari 4-3 Michael Collumb
Michal Kotiuk 4-3 Denys Khmelevskyi
Umut Dikme 4-3 Rhys Clark
Oliver Sykes 4-2 Ashley Carty
Kevin Hanssens 4-2 Benny O’Brien
Quarter-Finals
Robin Hull 4-3 Zachary Richardson
Anton Kazakov 4-1 Vladislav Gradinari
Umut Dikme 4-3 Michal Kotiuk
Oliver Sykes 4-1 Kevin Hanssens
Semi-Finals
Anton Kazakov 4-2 Robin Hull
Oliver Sykes 4-1 Umut Dikme
Final
Anton Kazakov 5-4 Oliver Sykes
Featured photo credit: EBSA
